The St. Joe River and its tributaries drain approximately 2,600 square miles in southwestern Michigan and 1,685 square miles in northern Indiana. Located primarily in Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, the river is home to thirty-six species of fish, as of a 1989 DNR survey.Angling opportunities are available for a number of sport fish including smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, channel catfish, rock bass, walleye and bluegill. The lower 13 miles of the river from the state line upstream to the Twin Branch Dam also provides steelhead and salmon fishing.

Fish

Brown troutDescription: Ever popular among Indiana anglers is the trout family, which includes the brown, lake and rainbow or steelhead trout. Many fisherman can be spotted on the shores during spawning season when the trout begin their runs into the tributaries. The brown trout has a white mouth, teeth and gums and some orange or red spots on its sides. This trout also has some spots enriched with light blue and a caudal fin margin that is square with no spots on the upper or lower lobe.

Bait: NADepth: Na

Comments about fish:

As of September 30, 1 brown trout has been counted moving past the South Bend Fish Ladder. Brown trout are rare in Indiana's stretch of the St.Joe River with only a few fish passing South Bend each fall. Chinook salmon or king salmonDescription: Members of the pacific salmon family, the chinook or king salmon and the coho salmon can be found in Lake Michigan and its tributaries in northern Indiana. Pacific salmons do not feed during spawning, but will strike a lure during their runs. Cohos will spawn in the fall in their third year of life and die, while chinooks will spawn in the fall, winter or spring in the fifth year of life, allowing them to grow larger. The chinook or king salmon teeth are set in dark gums, with black spots on the back and both lobes of the square caudal fin. The chinook or king salmon has 15-17 anal fin rays and averages 30 pounds though some can reach over 100 pounds.

Bait: spinnersDepth: main river channels

Comments about fish:

As of September 30, a total of 23 chinook salmon have been counted moving past the South Bend Fish Ladder. The salmon spawn should begin in mid to late October. Coho salmonDescription: Members of the pacific salmon family, the chinook or king salmon and the coho salmon can be found in Lake Michigan and its tributaries in northern Indiana. Pacific salmons do not feed during spawning, but will strike a lure during their runs. Cohos will spawn in the fall in their third year of life and die, while chinooks will spawn in the fall, winter or spring in the fifth year of life, allowing them to grow larger. The teeth of the coho salmon are set in light color gums. The coho salmon has black spots on the upper lobe of a slightly forked caudal fin with 12-15 anal fin rays.

Bait: spinnersDepth: main river channels

Comments about fish:

As of September 30, a total of 85 coho have been counted moving past the South Bend Fish Ladder. The coho spawn usually follows the chinook spawn in late October to early November. Rainbow or steelhead troutDescription: Ever popular among Indiana anglers is the trout family, which includes the brown, lake and rainbow or steelhead trout. Many fisherman can be spotted on the shores during spawning season when the trout begin their runs into the tributaries. Rainbow or steelhead trout have a white mouth, teeth and gums and small black spots on their backs, sides, and caudal and dorsal fins. The caudal fin margin of the rainbow or steelhead trout is square and the fish has 9-12 anal fin rays.

Bait: spinnersDepth: main river channels

Comments about fish:

As of September 30, a total of 302 steelhead have been counted moving past the South Bend Fish Ladder. State fish hatchery personel have completed steelhead broodstock collections. A total of 431 steelhead have been collected and transported back to Bodine State Fish Hatchery. The ladders are open to pass fish above South Bend.

Comments about body of water:

A total of 411 salmonids have been counted moving past South Bend as of September 30. River water levels are low. River temperature is 64 degrees. The St. Joe River fishing website will now be updated weekly until the run ends in late November. For additional trout and salmon fishing information contact our fishing hotline at 574-257-TIPS (8477).

That sounds about right. I was on the river in Niles yesterday bass fishing and a couple guys told me 6000 fish passed berrien last month! I dont know where to get the numbers but so I didnt argue but I was pretty sure they were wrong. As far as Im concerned the St Joe stocking is a waste. The ladder is closed all winter and the river is usually too warm and low to accomadate fish in the fall and has been flooded in march and april the last few years. Indiana is wasting our money putting cold water fish in there.

Sorry to rambel with out an answer. The numbers are way low. Normally ther is a decebt push of steelhead some time in late august-september. The kings used to be in too but Im pretty sure Indiana has stope stocking them. The coho are actually high I havent seen a decent coho run on the joe in abou 10 years. my guess is they were mis-identified dinky kings

You guys are so right on the money. I cut my teeth on the runs of steelies in the early 90's, every year since 2003 there seem to be less fish moving thru. When will IDNR stop stocking skamania in there . They must know the water is too warm for them. the fish either run up small creeks or die at the damns in water that doesn't hold enough oxygen for them to breathe. A more conservative approach is needed with so few fish. Maybe if the guides would encourage more catch and release things would be better, but as it stands when the fish do run they're cleaned out in a week.,around Berrien Springs. As for spring time fishing it's been I think 3 years in a row the Joe has been in flood stage from Feb to mid-April.cdx

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